2014/158: Graduation Day
Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday she was this sweet little girl….it’s hard to believe she’s grown into this beautiful young woman, who will be off to college in just a few months to study creative writing and art.
I’m so proud of her for all her achievements throughout her school years. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, and she’s graduating in the top 10% of her class tonight (her class rank is #15 out of 363)
Happy Graduation Day, Melissa! I’m SO proud of you and wish you success in all you do ♥
Then… (at age 20 months)
And now… (at age 17)
2014/114: Eleven
Can’t believe my youngest is turning 11 years old today! Where has the time gone??
Happy Birthday, sweet Sara ♥♥♥
2012/236: Sweet Sixteen
Happy Birthday to Melissa! ♥
(Even if she’s not happy about the camera in her face 😉 )
2012/091: Twenty-Three
Can’t believe my first baby is 23 years old today!
Happy Birthday, Cameron! ♥
2011/362: Christmas Surprise
The girls each had one big gift under the tree this year. Melissa’s was a keyboard, which she knew about, because she was with us when we bought it, and Sara got a new camera. She had been using my old point & shoot, and she loved taking pictures with Melissa’s Nikon D70s a few months ago, so Santa thought a new camera was perfect for her this year.
Sara opened the new camera bag first, and I’m sure she was wondering what she needed a new camera bag for, when she already had one. Then she reached for the camera… tore the paper off, and at first she thought it was a box of puzzles. Then she realized what it really was….
2011/351: Christmas Card Outtakes
They didn’t quite make it onto the card…
At least one of them cooperated here!
And here… I don’t know what they thought they were modelling for…
Can’t wait to do this again next year!
2011/346: On The Naughty List
Don’t you agree? 😉
Just one of the wonderful shots I got at Saturday’s torture photo session. Bet you can’t wait to see what made it onto this year’s Holiday card!
2011/342: The Unwilling Model
She had to promise me to let me take some pictures after I curled her hair.
She obviously didn’t promise to actually look at the camera! Too busy, playing on her Nintendo DS…
I bet I know exactly what she’s thinking here! 😉
2011/341: Curled
Sara has been asking me to curl her hair, and I finally did.
Sadly, the curls didn’t last long, because the humidity was relatively high that day, and her hair is too long and heavy. Oh, how I miss her natural curls! My long-time friends will probably remember the adorable ringlets she had when she was little (or you can scroll down to my Makin’ A List post, and see them in a couple of the pictures). I’m still sad that they were forever gone, when it was finally time for a hair cut, but I did save that curly little ponytail.
2011/335: Makin’ A List…
Is it me, or has this year flown by? I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas again already!
I did this last year (although I didn’t ask on the blog) and would like to do a little Christmas around the country/world again this year, because it was SO much fun the first time around.
So, my dear blogging friends, if you are a regular commenter, and you would like to receive a Holiday card from me, please let me know in the comments, and I will send you an e-mail, asking for your mailing address. Or, if you already have my e-mail address, you can just go ahead and e-mail me your mailing address.
I’m really looking forward to doing this again, although I have no idea what kind of card it will be. I’m hoping to torture have the girls pose for me with their new Santa hats, so I don’t have to come up with a Plan B.
Here’s a few photos and outtakes from the last few years…
Top photo (and my all-time favorite) was from 2005, and before I got my first DSLR
The photos in the second row were from 2006, and I had a really hard time, choosing just two of them for this collage. There were so many funny ones!
The photo on the bottom left was from 2007, and the girls braved the bitter cold (it was around freezing) without a jacket.
The photo on the bottom right was from 2008, and yes, I did use it for our Christmas card that year! It will probably look familiar to some of you!
2011/288: I Can Always Make You Smile
She can’t run and/or hide, so she’s trying her hardest not to smile
That’s OK. I just tell her “Don’t smile!… Dooon’t you smiiile!… Don’t do it!… Nope, don’t!… Don’t smiiile!”
Works every time! And not just with Sara, it works on Melissa, too. Even when they’re mad. (Just like telling them “don’t you eat my dinner!” when they were little).
Besides… how can you NOT smile when you’re eating a big huge tub cup of frozen yogurt?!
2011/272: Mother-Daughter Fun (1)
At the Plano Balloon Festival a couple of weeks ago, Sara said that she wished she had a better camera than the little point & shoot. She was getting a little frustrated with it because everything was so far away, and when it got too dark, the pictures didn’t turn out well at all.
The following week-end, on a boring Sunday, I asked her if she wanted to go to her school and take some pictures with Melissa’s Nikon D70s (we didn’t tell her, and I just said I needed to borrow her camera. She didn’t want to go anyway).
So off to the school we went, for some FUN! Sara never even complained about the heat!
I switched the camera to Auto mode for her so she could just snap away without having to worry about constantly changing the settings, depending on which way she was facing, and it probably would have been a little too overwhelming for her to remember. And besides, this little outing was more about having fun, than learning something new.
First, I took a picture of her….
….. taking a picture of me
Then a fun little mother-daughter reflection portrait (hers turned out too blurry, unfortunately)
The shadow picture was her idea. While editing, I added the same texture to both.
2011/209: Vacation Family Portrait
I still have soooo many pictures to edit, I’m not quite ready to post the next installment of our summer adventures, but I do have a very “special” family portrait that I took during our trip. Don’t the kids look excited??
2011/207: Summer Roadtrip, Indiana Part 1
Our vacation officially began at about 2:30 pm on Friday, July 1, 2011 when we locked up the house, got into the car and fought the beginnings of rush-hour traffic. Always fun, that part! We made it all the way to Miami that night. Miami, Oklahoma, that is! It took us longer than usual because of a back-up on I-44. We stopped at the big McDonald’s above the highway to kill some time. Better than being stuck in the car, and inching along. We could watch the traffic from the windows, and when it looked like it was moving a little better, we got back on the road. We usually stop in Joplin, Missouri for the night, but because of the tornado earlier this year, we didn’t know if we would be able to get a hotel room, so we spent the night in Miami instead.
We were up early on Saturday because no one was able to sleep that well. Got on the highway and a short time later, Greg started weaving all over the road, just about giving me a heart attack! After what seemed like an eternity, he finally pulled over so I could drive. Turned out that instead of his blood pressure pill, he accidentally took a sleeping pill!! I drove through most of Missouri while Greg got in a nice little nap, and he took over just before we reached St. Louis. We made it to Merrillville, Indiana by evening, and the kids met us at the hotel for a few hours. Sadly, Cameron only had the week-end and July 4th off, but Nick was off all week.
Sunday (July 3) they all came up to the hotel again, and after lunch we headed to Bakers Square for some pie, and to celebrate Nick’s Birthday a little early. The kids all had their uncle’s 4th of July party to go to in the evening, and we were on our own. Luckily we found a fireworks show to go to, although we didn’t exactly get the best spot to watch it. We decided to join a bunch of other people in a parking lot (which was free), rather than driving into the park and fighting all kinds of traffic on the way out.
On Monday (July 4) I finally got to meet my new daughter-in-law, Alexandra. Very sweet girl, but very shy around new people (totally like me!). Unfortunately she was only able to stay a few hours, and this was the only time we got to see her, due to her work schedule.
Nick & Alex
The weather was so beautiful that we spent quite a bit of time outside on the hotel’s patio. It was so much nicer than sitting in the hotel room.
My daughter-in-law Nikki
They even had a grill available for the guests, and we grilled sausages for dinner that night.
Yum!
Cameron, Sara, Melissa and Greg
2011/147: Bonus – Ready For The Award
Last week we received an invitation to the Awards for Excellence at Melissa’s school. The awards were given out yesterday evening, and Melissa received one for A-Honor Roll for the entire 2010/2011 school year. We are so proud of her!
(But what I really want to know is, what happened to my little girl??? She’s looking so grown up these days!)
2011/118: Interview With An 8-Year-Old
Favorite color: pink
Favorite food: cheese pizza
Favorite sport: volley ball
Favorite hobby: watch TV
What do you want to be when you grow up: gym teacher, maybe.
Favorite memory: I don’t know
Best friend: Katelynn
Best feature: everything
Boyfriend: don’t have one
What college do you want to go to: I don’t know
Major in college: art
Favorite subject: math
Favorite movie: Tangled
Favorite TV show: The Middle, Wipeout, Big Time Rush
Favorite vacation: Indiana
Most embarrassing moment: I don’t know
Where do you want to live when you grow up: with you and Daddy
Favorite band/singer: Big Time Rush
Favorite book: The BFG
Favorite song: 8th World Wonder (by Kimberly Locke)
If you could have one wish come true, what would it be: that Melissa is nice to me
I forgot to do this last year, but here is her Interview when she turned 6.
2011/117: Officially Eight
But she still looks like seven. Whew! 😉
(Taken on her Birthday on Sunday)
2011/107: Bonus – Something Is Different
Best I got… texture added to hide that it wasn’t in focus 😉
We were walking around the mall, Melissa a few steps behind me, and I randomly held up the camera and clicked the shutter about 20 times, hoping I’d get lucky and get something good. Didn’t happen, of course. The picture below was before mom turned paparazzi LOL
2010/303: Witch
Cutest witch I’ve ever seen 😉
She picked the costume, and then said “too bad I can’t have red lips like the girl on the picture” and of course I told her that I would let her put on lipstick if she let me take some pictures! It worked, and she even cooperated (for the most part). I just wish her head was tilted down just a tiny bit more so her hat completely covered her left eye.
2010/300
The girls and their decorated pumpkins…. and another case of “hide-from-mommy’s-camera”. Melissa held her pumpkin up, but little did she know, that this made the perfect picture!
2010/288: Portrait Of A Goofball
An old pair of my glasses, and a mustache that she found at the grocery store (still in its original packaging, rolled under the “gumball” machine), and trying not to crack a smile.
The Daily Click 